Stockade Guard Attacked

April 5, 1985|By James H. Tolpin, Staff writer

A juvenile prisoner in the Palm Beach County Stockade pulled a fire extinguisher off the wall and bashed a deputy in the head with it during a foiled escape attempt, Director of Corrections Jerry Toles said Thursday.

Toles said the attack occurred during early evening about two weeks ago, when the deputy removed the prisoner from his cell to make a telephone call within the stockade.

Toles, reached after working hours, said he did not have with him information on the date of the attack or the reason the juvenile was in the stockade.

The juvenile knocked down Palm Beach County Sheriff`s Deputy Enrique Sobrino, but did not knock him out, Toles said.

``Then (the juvenile) was quickly subdued by other officers,`` Toles said. The prisoner was returned to his cell, and Sobrino was taken for treatment to Humana Hospital of the Palm Beaches in West Palm Beach, Toles said.

Toles said Sobrino did not violate any sheriff`s office guidelines and was not disciplined. Sobrino was not wearing a gun during the attack, which accords with sheriff`s office policy for stockade officers, Toles said.

The deputy has returned to work as a corrections officer, Toles said. He said reports that a gun was fired during or shortly after the escape attempt were false.